Elections and Events 1990-1994

1990

Cassa 1997: "Joaquin Balaguer…had effectively annulled all other powers of the state, maintaining himself at the head of government through a combination of procedures that involved electoral fraud, the exercise of extralegal violence, the repression of social protests, bribery, the corruption of the highest spheres of government and, in general, the refusal to observe the canons of the law. Political movements opposed to this authoritarian structure have long existed in the Dominican Republic, and over the last two decades, Dominicans have particularly resented the impoverishing effects of the state's brutal, self-interested incompetence. During the 1980s, as hopes diminished for change through electoral means, social movements emerged which questioned the country's authoritarian structure and, above all, the dizzying fall of living standards. These movements were never well organized, and they generally suffered from a lack of clear direction. As they ran their course by the end of the decade, hopes returned to electoral means-and the 1990 presidential elections-as a means of ousting Balaguer and his cronies" (page 20).

Cordero 1991: Discusses women's groups involved in the campaign, including the group "Mujer, Futuro y Balaguer," the "Movimiento Femenino Independiente (MOFEI)," the "Comisión Nacional de Mujeres," and the "Federación Dominicana de Mujeres Socialdemócratas (FEDOMUSDE)" (pages 89-90).

January

Country report. Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico 1990, 1: "Balaguer had still not confirmed by the end of January whether he would be standing for re-election, and another prominent figure in his conservative [PRSC], Fernando Alvarez Bogaert, was vigorously campaigning for the nomination" (page 22). "Roberto Saladín...announced in January that he had accepted the presidential candidacy offered jointly by three small parties: the Partido Popular Cristiano (PPC), Partido Constitucionalista (PC) and Partido Duartista (PD)" (page 23).

Hartlyn 1998: "Majluta launched his candidacy in January 1990 through a new party he had formed, the Partido Revolucionario Independiente (PRI, Independent Revolutionary Party)" (page 202). "The factional struggle between Majluta and Peña Gómez between 1986 and 1990 ended in a formal party split, with Peña Gómez successfully retaining the party name and symbols. Peña Gómez and especially Majluta-with his hastily organized PRI-approached the 1990 campaign from weakened positions" (page 235).

Cassa 1997: "Balaguer…was successful in his use of brazen fraud in 1990. Beyond simple on-the-ground fraud, he ably secured U.S. backing for his presidential race" (page 20).

Chester 2001: "In 1990, the PRD finally decided to nominate its most popular, albeit controversial, personality, José Francisco Peña Gómez...The bitter disputes within the opposition's forces were not sufficient to ensure Balaguer's victory through a democratic victory. Suspiciously, the vote tally was suspended only hours after the polling places had closed. Two months later, the Central Electoral Board reported that Balaguer had triumphed once again, barely defeating Bosch, with Peña Gómez running a distant third" (page 280).

Chronicle of parliamentary elections and developments 24 1990: For the May 16, 1990 elections for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate gives the characteristics of parliament, the electoral system, the background and outcome of the elections, and the number of registered electors and percent who voted (pages 67-68).

Chronicle of parliamentary elections and developments 25 1991: For the May 16, 1990 elections for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate gives the distribution of seats (page 133).

Cordero 1996: During the elections of 1990, "the women's movement, enthusiastically supported by party leaders, produced the 'Programa Mínimo Feminista'-PMF/90-(Minimum Feminist Programme), which incorporated the main gender demands. Among its most notable achievements was the inclusion of its proposals in the platforms of most of the political parties" (page 31).

Country report. Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico 1990, 2: "Altogether 13 parties were due to compete in the May 16 elections which were also to decide 30 Senate and 120 lower house seats as well as 631 local government and other posts" (page 21)

Espinal 1999: "In spite of the country's serious socioeconomic problems, Balaguer was able to win a narrow plurality victory in 1990. In elections marred by irregularities and charges of fraud, the eighty-three-year-old incumbent edged out his eighty-year-old opponent, Juan Bosch, by a mere 24,470 votes" (page 487).

Fernández 1991: Gives details on the 1990 elections.

Grimaldi 1993: Reproduces many reports and articles on the 1990 election.

Hartlyn 1998: "Last minute campaign errors by Bosch, a stronger than expected third place finish by the PRD, and probably some fraud helped Balaguer win a narrow victory in tense elections. The PLD attitude toward Balaguer was to change dramatically as a consequence of these elections, in which they were convinced that fraud prevented their victory" (page 202). "In the 1990-94 period, Balaguer did not have as secure a majority in congress as in the previous period. Electoral vote counts and subsequent 'negotiations' resulted in the PR(SC) retaining a narrow majority in the senate (sixteen of thirty seats); the PLD began Balaguer's new term with twelve seats, and the PRD held on to only two seats. In the chamber, once again, no party held an outright majority. The PR(SC) declined from forty-one to thirty-three seats, and the PRD fell from forty-eight to thirty-three seats. The PLD, in turn, expanded from sixteen seats to forty-six" (page 210). Describes allegations of fraud in the election (pages 248-249).

Keesing's record of world events May 1990: "The Central Electoral Board stated that more than 1,300,000 out of 3,275,000 eligible voters had abstained, the highest abstention figure in the 37 elections held since the proclamation of independence in 1844" (page 37448).

1990 elections in the Dominican Republic: report of an observer delegation 1990: "The May 16 presidential election in the Dominican Republic was the closest and among the most disputed in the country's history. According to official results, President Joaquin Balaguer, the incumbent, defeated his principal challenger, former President Juan Bosch, by 1.2 percent of the total votes" (page 7). "Framework for the elections" (pages 9-10). "More than 1,600 elective offices at the national and local levels were at stake in the May 1990 elections" (page 9). "The JCE introduced a new ballot for the 1990 elections...In 1990, a single ballot was used that allowed the electorate to vote for candidates of different parties at the municipal, legislative, and presidential level" (page 10). "Election day observations" (page 11). "Election results" (pages 12-15). "Final results" (pages 18-19). "Results of presidential election" (page 18). "Results of congressional election" (page 19).

Wiarda 1992: "The election of 1990 was held under intense international scrutiny as former U.S. President Jimmy Carter led a delegation of observers to the Dominican Republic…After a series of recounts, Balaguer was declared the victor by a 20,000-vote margin. Perhaps the most critical electoral fact was that 1.3 million Dominicans abstained from voting as a protest against the failure of democracy to improve the quality of life in their country" (page 54).

July

Atkins 1998: "Balaguer was reelected with 35.1 percent of the vote, Bosch was a close second with 33.8 percent, and Majluta received only 7 percent. The PRSC won sixteen Senate seats, the PLD twelve, and the PRD two. In the Chamber of Deputies the PRSC won forty-two seats, but the PLD had a plurality with forty-four, and the PRD held thirty-two" (page 206).

Country report. Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico 1990, 3: "President Joaquín Balaguer, 83, was declared the victor of the May 16 elections by the Junta Central Electoral (JCE) on July 13, after two months of recounts and further checking of the results" (page 23). Describes the results of the presidential and congressional elections.

1990 elections in the Dominican Republic: report of an observer delegation 1990: "On July 13, nearly two months after the election, the JCE announced the final results. Balaguer garnered 678,065 votes, or 35 percent, and Bosch received 653,595, or 33.8 percent. At the congressional level, Balaguer's party, the PRSC, won 16 seats in the Senate; the PLD, 12; and the PRD, 2...In the Chamber of Deputies, the PRSC won 42 seats, the PLD, 44, and the PRD, 32" (page 18).

August

Country report. Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico 1990, 3: "President Balaguer was due to be sworn in for a sixth term on August 16" (page 23).

December

Country report. Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico 1990, 4: Describes the political structure of the Dominican Republic as of December 1990 (page 4).

Espinal 1994: The "combined effect of discontent, the state of the economy, and the dubious electoral results helped produce four general strikes against the Balaguer government during the last six months of 1990. These strikes were primarily organized by nonlabor popular organizations, which had gained tremendous ascendancy during the late 1980s as the power of organized labor dwindled" (page 157).

1991

Country report. Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico 1992, 1: "The leader of the Partido Revolucionario Independiente (PRI), Jacobo Majluta, was involved in December 1991 in negotiations with a group of leading members of the governing [PRSC], who urged him to join the Reformistas as a potential presidential candidate for May 1994" (page 21).

1992

April

Country profile. Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico 1995-96: "In April 1992 the PLD suffered a split in which Senator Max Puig and ten deputies resigned to set up a new organisation, the Alianza por la Democracia" (page 8).

Country report. Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico 1992, 2: "Tensions within the opposition [PLD] came to a head at the end of April, when 47 senior members, mostly from the left wing, resigned from the party, including one of its 12 senators and ten of its 44 deputies" (page 21).

Espinal 1999: The reformed electoral code "established greater financial independence for the Junta Central Electoral (JCE) and increased the number of electoral judges from three to five to make it more representative" (page 489).

Mitchell 1998: "In 1992 the electoral law was changed, providing each voter in 1994 with three distinct ballots: one each for presidential, congressional, and municipal contests. Each category of ballot was collected and tallied separately" (page 124).

June

Country report. Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico 1992, 3: "In June some 400 former PLD members held an assembly which approved the setting up of a new political movement" (page 19).

August

Country report. Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico 1992, 4: "A new political party, the Alianza por la Democracia (APD), was formed on August 2 by former members of the PLD, which underwent a split in April" (page 24).

December

Hartlyn 1998: "In December 1992, a full seventeen months before the elections, Juan Bosch was renominated as the [PLD's] presidential candidate" (page 238).

Hartlyn 1998: "Peña Gómez was officially proclaimed the [PRD's] candidate in a convention held in early July 1993. Party primaries subsequently determined a number of the key mayoral and senatorial candidates, though Peña Gómez was also given the freedom to select a number of candidacies" (page 239).

August

Country report. Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico 1993, 4: "In August the minister of labour, Rafael Alburquerque, founder and president of the Partido del Pueblo Dominicano, announced his candidacy for the presidency" (page 19).

September

Country report. Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico 1993, 4: "The [JCE] announced in September that it had recognised 47 organisations as eligible to take part in the 1994 elections. The total included 30 new organisations. Among them is the Movimiento Nuevo Poder..., a coalition of seven left-wing groups, which has promoted the presidential candidacy of Father Antonio Reynoso, a supporter of liberation theology...Leonel Fernández, a lawyer, was elected vice-presidential candidate for the [PLD] in September. It was the first time the party had held an internal election for the post. Mr. Fernández, who is 41, won 52% of the vote from 657 party committees. The party's presidential candidate is the veteran politician, Juan Bosch, aged 84" (page 19).

December

Country report. Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico 1994, 1: "The three main political parties had embarked at the end of 1993 on a quest for alliances with smaller parties in the forthcoming general election. The votes brought in by smaller parties could hold the key to victory in a close-run contest...The first significant alliance to be announced in this year's campaign was between the left-wing opposition [PLD] and the right-wing [FNP]...Representatives of both parties have said that the alliance is purely for electoral purposes and is aimed at promoting a campaign against corruption...Milagros Ortiz Bosch, niece of the PLD leader, Juan Bosch, has been nominated by the PRD for the National District Senate seat. She is the first woman to contest the seat" (page 19).

1994

Howard 2001: "Anti-Haitianism has a long history as the ideology of national cohesion and domination for the ruling Dominican elite, but, significantly, during the 1990s, racism and nationalism became the basis for a racist agenda in internal Dominican politics...[Peña Gómez] was dark-skinned and allegedly had Haitian ancestry. In 1994, he was the main challenger to the long-standing white president, Dr Joaquín Balaguer...During the previous elections, in 1990, with the PRD in disarray, the presidential campaign of Peña Gómez was marginalized. The real battle was then fought between President Balaguer and Professor Juan Bosch" (page 153). "The key to understanding election campaigns in recent years is the development of an intensely racialized political discourse. This occurred most noticeably during the 1990s, when Peña Gómez became the presidential candidate for the PRD and leader of the main opposition party. Political campaigning developed tones of overt racism, and was fueled by anti-Haitianism and racist attitudes among the electorate. Peña Gómez had suffered racist slurs during the elections in 1982 as candidate to be mayor of Santo Domingo, but not to the same extent as he did in the 1994 and 1996 presidential election campaigns" (page 162). Describes the racialized campaign against Peña Gómez (pages 175-180).

January

Country report. Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico 1994, 1: "The long-awaited announcement by President Joaquín Balaguer of his intention to seek a seventh term in the May election was made on January 6, to a special convention of the governing [PRSC]. The president, who is 87 and blind, had repeatedly postponed the announcement, saying that the decision would be determined by his state of health" (page 19).

Hartlyn 1998: "Balaguer was officially proclaimed the presidential candidate for the PR(SC) on January 6, 1994, and was given freedom to determine his vice presidential candidate and the candidates for major congressional and mayoral posts" (page 238). "On January 19, [Fernando Alvarez] was proclaimed the presidential candidate of the small Unidad Democràtica (UD, Democratic Unity Party), which had been allied to the PLD in 1990" (page 238).

February

Hartlyn 1998: "(B)y the February deadline, the PR(SC) had reached alliances with eight minor parties" (page 238). "Most striking was the alliance made by Peña Gómez and the PRD with Fernando Alvarez Bogaert. The Acuerdo de Santo Domingo (Santo Domingo Accord) signed on February 13, 1994, gave Alvarez the vice presidential nomination, ceded seven senatorial candidacies to followers of Alvarez, and assured their placement on congressional lists in fifteen provinces and other candidacies...In the end, the PRD went to the polls on May 16 allied with five other minor parties that had gained legal recognition from the JCE" (pages 239-240).

Betances 1995a: "The results of these elections, which took place on May 16, were confirmed only on August 2 and remained on somewhat shaky ground. Both the credentialed teams of foreign observers and the official verification commission acknowledged that fraud marked the whole electoral procedure. The latter cited 'irregularities" in over 40 percent of the municipalities and reported that some 28,000 voters had been excluded from the process. There were two voting lists, one given to the participating parties and the other to the voting precincts" (page 16).

Chester 2001: "Balaguer was even more detested than before, but this time Bosch was no longer perceived as a viable alternative...Peña Gómez gained the PRD nomination for the second time, and this time he was clearly the people's choice. With no popular support, Balaguer utilized the entire apparatus of the state to ensure his re-election. Fraud took place at every level, with little concern shown for the democratic process. For weeks after the election, the results were withheld until Balaguer was finally pronounced the victor by a small margin over Peña Gómez, with Bosch trailing well behind" (page 281).

Chronicle of parliamentary elections and developments 28 1994: For the May 16, 1994 elections for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate gives the characteristics of parliament, the electoral system, the background and outcome of the elections, and the results, including the distribution of seats according to sex (pages 65-67). "The 1994 congressional elections were held simultaneously with those for President of the Republic and representatives of municipalities" (page 66).

Cordero 1996: "The elections of 1994…were characterized by the racial and ideological polarization of the electorate between the Reformed Social Christian Social Party and the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). The possibility of victory for the radical PRD, whose candidate was both dark-skinned and historically anti-imperialist, provoked an extreme conservative reaction, characterized by neo-nationalism, xenophobia and anti-Haitian sentiments. As a result, both sides negotiated to form new electoral alliances, making deals that involved the nomination of candidates. Victories that women had clearly won within the party political conventions, giving them the right to run as their party's candidate in the elections, were negotiated away, greatly reducing the potential number of women candidates" (page 35).

Hartlyn 1998: "The apparent fraud in the 1994 elections, in which Balaguer ostensibly defeated Peña Gómez by an even narrower margin than he had Bosch in 1990, generated a strong counterreaction by the U.S. government, organized business, parts of the church, and numerous other actors" (page 211). "Balaguer managed only a precarious majority in the senate. The official 1994 results gave the PR(SC) 14 senators; the PLD, 1; and the PRD coalition, the remaining 16. However, Balaguer was able to win over one of the senators elected by the PRD coalition, which with the support of the PLD senator gave him the sixteen votes he needed. In the chamber, his party had 50 of the 120 seats, which, with the 13 deputies of the PLD, permitted occasional agreements on some measures" (page 213). "Milagros Ortiz Bosch, a leading politician within the PRD, was the only woman elected senator in the 1994-98 period" (page 242). Describes allegations of fraud in the election (pages 250-252).

Keesing's record of world events May 1996: "Peña…was widely considered to have been cheated of victory in the 1994 elections. The only black among the leading candidates, he defied a PRSC-orchestrated racist campaign in a country where blacks and mulattos…formed the majority but a white elite continued to wield power and influence" (page 41088).

Mitchell 1998: In 1994 there were "three distinct ballots: one each for presidential, congressional, and municipal contests. Each category of ballot was collected and tallied separately" (page 124). "Ticket-splitting in the 1994 national election: votes received by major parties" (page 124).

Wiarda 1994: "Results (according to the Dominican Central Electoral Junta, August 2, 1994)" (page i). "On May 16, 1994, Dominican voters went to the polls to select a president, members of both houses of Congress, and mayors and councilmen" (page 1).

Wiarda 1996: "The 1994 election is widely thought to have been manipulated fraudulently by Balaguer and his cronies, through the device (mainly) of leaving many opposition voters off the official voting lists. Hence, when these voters, a disproportionate number of whom supported opposition parties, showed up at the voting stations, their names were not on the list and they were denied the right to vote" (page 5).

May 26

Latin American regional reports. Caribbean & Central America report June 23, 1994: "On 26 May the JCE…announced that it had completed the first count of the vote and that it gave Balaguer a lead of slightly more than 1%. The electoral authorities had suspended the count a week earlier after just about everyone that monitored the elections, including the Organisation of American States (OAS), the Socialist International (SI) and the National Democrat Institute, agreed that there had been 'grave irregularities' on polling day. The PRD had put it more bluntly, accusing the ruling Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (PRSC) of massive fraud" (page 2).

Latin American regional reports. Caribbean & Central America report June 23, 1994: "The candidate of the opposition [PRD], José Francisco Peña Gómez, has told his supporters to be ready to 'paralyse' the country should the Junta Central Electoral (JCE) declare the incumbent President Joaquín Balaguer the winner of the 16 May presidential election" (page 2).

Atkins 1998: Election results are announced on August 2nd (page 211). "Balaguer was declared the winner over Peña Gómez by 42.3 percent to 41.6 percent, a margin of 22, 281 votes." Gives additional results.

Betances 1995a: "Quite naturally, the losing PRD and PLD complained strenuously about the results and the whole process, the former calling for a new vote with a supervised new electoral roll. As usual, the U.S. embassy became involved, and the process was further complicated by the ongoing crisis in neighboring Haiti. The Balaguer government clearly backed the conservative military junta and not the democratically elected President Bertrand Aristide…Significantly, after a lot of backing and filling by the central electoral board and the political parties, on August 2 the U.S. and Dominican governments announced that they had signed a memorandum of understanding allowing 80 UN observers to police its borders…On the day the government announced the agreement, the central electoral board declared Balaguer the winner by about three-quarters of a percentage point but with less than 40 percent of the total vote" (page 16).

Country report. Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico 1994, 3: "On August 2 the incumbent president, Joaquín Balaguer, was declared president by the [JCE], two and a half months after the general election on May 16. According to the final result, Mr Balaguer's [PRSC] and its allies won 1,275,460 votes against 1,253,179 votes for the opposition [PRD], a margin of just 22,281 votes" (page 24). Describes alleged irregularities (pages 24-25). "The opposition PRD won the Senate seat in Santo Domingo and 15 of the city's 31 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, together with the mayoralty. The PRSC won 11 deputies' seats, and the Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD) five. The new senator for Santo Domingo is Milagros Ortiz Bosch...The PRD also won 28 city council seats, compared with 19 for the PRSC, 14 for the PLD and one for the Partido Revolucionario Independiente (PRI). However the PRD leader, Mr Peña Gómez, said on May 27 that the PRD's national executive had resolved that the party would take up none of its elected positions at national or municipal level if Mr Balaguer were declared the presidential winner without a thorough review of the fraud allegations" (page 25).

Keesing's record of world events May 1994: "The difference between the two leading candidates was only 30,754 votes, and the PRD claimed that 'vast fraud' had caused more than 200,000 of its supporters to be left off the electoral register. It provided evidence of faked identity cards and discrepancies between JCE voter lists given to parties and those issued to polling stations…In a campaign dominated by the official pro-Balaguer media, Peña Gómez, a black, was subjected to virulent racist attacks and was caricatured as a tool of the USA, France, Canada and Venezuela, which were accused of seeking the 'fusion' of the Dominican Republic with neighbouring Haiti in order to solve the latter's crisis and to allow floods of Haitian refugees across the common border" (page 40002).

Latin American regional reports. Caribbean & Central America report September 1, 1994: "In early August the Junta Central Electoral, which is funded and controlled by the government, had finally announced that Balaguer had beaten Peña Gómez by just over 22,000 votes, with the President credited with 42.4% and the PRD leader with 41.4% of the vote. The PRD still claimed that about 200,000 registered voters, most of them its supporters, had been unable to cast their ballots" (page 3).

Wiarda 1996: "The 1994 election provoked a crisis both in the Dominican Republic and internationally. Domestically, there was a great explosion of sentiment, rhetoric, op-eds, and books exposing the 1994 fraud and insisting that the experience not be repeated. Public sentiment was outraged. As a result, the Dominicans changed their electoral laws and the personnel of the Central Electoral Junta (JCE), and created new watchdog groups (such as 'Participación Ciudadana,' or PC) to assure that the electoral fraud and post-election crisis experienced in 1994 would not happen again in 1996" (page 5).

August 9-10

Betances 1995a: "President-elect Balaguer acknowledged the need to negotiate with the opposition because of the tension generated by the elections and their aftermath. Talks took place under the auspices of the Catholic Church and the OAS. On August 9 representatives of the leading political parties signed the so-called Pact for Democracy. Among other things, the pact prohibited the reelection of the president for consecutive terms, made the judicial system more independent, and called for new presidential elections with 18 months while approving regular four-year terms for congressional and municipal offices filled in May 1994…(Balaguer rescheduled the elections for May 1996)" (pages 16-17).

Cassa 1997: The Pact for Democracy "recognized that the occurrence of irregularities was so routine and of such a magnitude that the only solution was to modify the Constitution to prohibit the successive re-election of the president. The Pact cut Balaguer's term short to only two years, and mandated new presidential elections in 1996. It was also ruled that the 1996 presidential elections would be contested in two rounds if no candidate received an absolute majority-the second round consisting of a runoff between the two candidates receiving the most votes…Balaguer saw the Pact as the exit from presidential power most favorable to his interests. In the meantime, he prepared the greatest number of obstacles possible to prevent the predicted triumph of the PRD in 1996" (page 21).

Chester 2001: "When demonstrators surged on to the streets protesting the obvious manipulation of the electoral process, the United States insisted on a new election. Balaguer finally acquiesced, and a special presidential election was set for 1996, with the incumbent, Balaguer, excluded from re-election. In setting the terms for the special election, the Dominican legislature revised the electoral law, establishing a second-round runoff between the two leading candidates, should none of the nominees receive a majority vote in the first round" (page 281).

Chronicle of parliamentary elections and developments 28 1994: "(T)he different political parties reached an agreement-the Pact for Democracy-signed on 10 August according to which the presidential term which would start on 16 August would be limited to end on 27 February 1996, whereas the newly elected Parliament would maintain its mandate until 16 August 1998" (page 66).

Country report. Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico 1994, 3: "On August 10 the president, Joaquín Balaguer, and José Francisco Peña Gómez, the disappointed presidential candidate for the opposition PRD, agreed that fresh presidential elections should be held. The elections will take place on November 16, 1995. The winner will take office on February 27, 1996. The president immediately initiated legislation to amend the constitution to permit the new elections. Mr Balaguer will retain office until the handover of power but will not stand in next year's election" (page 25).

Espinal 1999: An "agreement (known as the Pact for Democracy) was reached among the three major parties on August 10, 1994. The agreement reduced Balaguer's presidential term to two years, after which new presidential elections would be held, and called for appointment of a new Electoral Board, as well as numerous constitutional reforms, including banning consecutive presidential reelection, separating presidential and congressional-municipal elections two years apart, a runoff election if no presidential candidate wins a majority of the votes, reforms to the judicial system, and dual citizenship" (pages 489-490).

Hartlyn 1998: "The electoral crisis was resolved by the signing of the Pact for Democracy in August 1994 that led to a number of constitutional reforms, including the limitation of Balaguer's new term to only two years and the prohibition of immediate presidential reelection" (page 211). Describes details of the pact (page 254).

Latin American regional reports. Caribbean & Central America report September 1, 1994: "(O)n 10 August Balaguer…announced that he had reached a agreement with the PRD's José Francisco Peña Gómez to hold new elections in mid-November next year" (page 3).

Mitchell 1998: "In 1994 the constitution was amended to bar immediate presidential reelection and to call for presidential elections in 1996. This second change means that unless further amendments are made, congressional and municipal elections will be held separately in the future, two years after each presidential contest. A system of proportional representation is used to select winning candidates for the national Chamber of Deputies and for the local post of 'regidor,' as members of municipal councils are known…Senators are elected by plurality (one for each of the nation's thirty provinces), while mayors…are chosen by plurality within 'municipios'" (page 124).

Sagás 1997: "The solution negotiated in the 'Pacto por la Democracia' was to reduce Balaguer's term to 2 years and call for new presidential elections in May 1996, in which Balaguer would not be allowed to participate, as presidential reelection was banned. All other elected officials would remain in office for their 4-year terms until congressional and municipal elections were held in 1998" (pages 103-104). Describes other stipulations of the pact.

August 14

Chronicle of parliamentary elections and developments 28 1994: "On 14 August… Congress, sitting as a special constitutional assembly, approved an amendment that extended the presidential term for a further six months; it also endorsed a constitutional provision that barred a President from serving consecutive terms" (pages 66-67).

Country report. Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico 1994, 4: "The next presidential election, originally planned for November 16, 1995, was postponed until May 16, 1996, in a constitutional amendment passed by both houses of Congress on August 14" (page 27). Describes the discussion in congress. "Other amendments to the constitution were passed, providing for a ban on a president serving more than one term consecutively; the setting up of a new independent electoral commission; and measures to allow Dominicans living abroad to vote in national elections" (page 27).

Latin American regional reports. Caribbean & Central America report September 1, 1994: "The national assembly had been expected to rubber-stamp the so-called 'Pact for Democracy' negotiated face-to-face by Balaguer and Peña Gómez. But the deal was scuttled on 14 August when the assembly voted to hold the new elections in May 1995, with the new President to take office on 16 August that year and not 25 February as the two men had agreed in two days of closed-door talks. The new timetable fitted in with the initial negotiating position of the President, who had argued for a mandate of two years while Peña Gómez had insisted that the new elections should be held within a year" (page 3).

Latin American regional reports. Caribbean & Central America report September 1, 1994: "Joaquín Balaguer vented his anger about 'foreign intrusion', particularly by the US, in the country's internal affairs when he was sworn in for a seventh term as President on 16 August amid political confusion and rising tension. But the intense pressure from abroad, including the Organization of American States (OAS), had appeared to have had the desired effect" (page 3).